Speed-changing mechanism



" power wheel.

UNITE STATES PATENT OFFICE.-

wiLLIAM A. vvmenfi,` or oENTER'roN, 'NEW JERsnY.

sPi-:Eo-eHANeJNe McHNi'sM.

SPECIFIGATIN forming' part of Letters Patent No. 475.735, dated May 24, 1892. Ap plicntionfiled January 2B, 1892. Serial No. 419,648r (o model.)

'Z'o (1,35 witam it ma]] conccrm lie it known that I, WILLIAM A. Wnmmf a eii izen oi' the United States, residing at Centurion., in the county of liurlington and State' of New Jersey, have invonied certain now and nsei'nl Improvements in Speed-Changing iilm'lmnisin, of which the following is a speci-- tloaiion, reference being had thercin to the neeonipnnying dritwings. A w i My invoniion. has reference' to a speedehanginn' nieehnnisin for cranes, elevntors, hoists, the-.g and it consists of anarrangemont of parts fully set i'oi'th in the following' specification and aceompnnying drawings, which form part ihereof. i The object of my invention is to provide a specd-elmnging mechanism ythat will be safely and onsily operaied, positive in its action, strong and simple iirits construction, and eniiroly under the control of the operator while the erano or elevator to which it is applied is inaction. i 'l`oacco1npiish this objeetIcmploy a shaft movable longitnd.inaily while in cireular motion and provided with two pins and two irregnlar-shaped sleeves', which sleeves are made integral with a pinion on one end and a spnr-wheel on the opposite end of said shaft. Snrronndmgsaid irregnlar-shaped in- `ternal sleeves is a lon-gitnclinal slotted sleeve,

which sleeve answers the pnrpose of the rope orchain supporting drum customary in mai ehines of this class.

In the drawings like parts are iigured with a. similar charaeter in the different views.

Figure 1 is a transverse section on'the shafts of an elevator and elevation of the worm and The bearig for the two shafts supporting the pinion'and gear are removed. Fig. 2 is a sideelevation of the ehain-drnm vfriction-Wheel and the gears and 'an end view of the powerwheel with its shaft-bearings. Fig. 3 is a longitudinal section of the sleeve forming the drum a'nd ajplan of the slidin'g I shaft with the revolving sleeves in place. Fig. 4 is a 'side elevation of the sliding shaft and pins. Fi'g. 5 is a section through the line A BfFig. 3. Fig. 6 is arplap of the sleeve in which the 'slot 25 is shown. Fig.'7 is a transversesectien of the sleeve with the shaft removed. w p

By the use' of my shifting meehanisxn it is not necessary to have the gears change position when I wish tol ohtain 'a slow or fast speed-01' lift a heavy or light load. They are kept absolutely stationary in so far as any longitndinai movcment is coneorned. in a material degree removcs the liability to in'enkago of teoth in thegear-wheels and the minoyan'ee of putting the teeth in gear when it is. desirabie tochange speels.and increase ordecrease the powerof the machine. x

-1 is a power-wheel to'which the power is applied-through the eordlor chain-rope 30 in the nsnal manner in hoiisting elevators, &e. -i is a shaft to which th's wheel' 1 is ilxod. 'l`hi's shafi is supported b bearings (i, which in turn are held by holts'ito thc frame 22.

5 is a worm fixed to shaft 4, which worm drives the lwenn-gear 31, fixed to shaft 10. Motion h thns connnnni ated to the shaft 102 and powertrnnsmitted tqtheshaft lthrough the tem' H and pinion 9* for fast speed and light woltthts and throw h the pinion 10 and gear 14 forslow speed ,and heavy weights. The flange 3;, sleevc 3(i,i`and pinion 9 are all united in one piece-that. is to say, the flangc and sleeve are turned from one piece and the 'This' and likewise the tiange 84:2, with its sleeve, and' the gear 14. These sleevcs 36 and 362 act as jonrnalsfor the drum and entire shifting mechanism. The flanges 31 and 342 have also irregnlar-shaped sleeves extending on the opposite side of the lange and gear and are shown in Fig. 3 by 15 and 16. In F'ig. 2 this is shown held in its proper place by ,thebearings of the hangers 11 11,. i

2 is a grooved pnliey; and 3 is a frietionbelt thereon.

The shaft 20 is sn'ngly fitted to 'the hole, which passes through the aforementioned sleeves, flanges, and gears and is free to. revolve therein. yThe sleeve 13 incloses the internal-portion-ofthe sleeves' 15 and 16, ,as

shownl in Fig. 3, and that portion of the shaft also. a

O O are two piis. These pins are free to move longitudinally in` the longitndinal groove 25 of th`e`s1eevel3,'and being seenrely fixed to the shaft 20 will movewhen the said ishaft is moved. In Fig. 3 the dotted lines indicate the position of the shaft.

It will now be seen by referring to Fig. 3 that the sleeve 1G of the gear 14 and 'ilanges IOO 342 are in engagement-with the pin O at the left side of the shaft 20. This gear 14, being in engagement with the pinion 10 of the shaft 109, is therefore the position which ,would produce the greater power and the slower speed. When I desire to increase the speed, I shift the shaft 20 tolthe right. l-ly sodoing the right-hand pin O Will engage with the proj eetin g part of the sleeve 15, and as the sleeve is litcrally but an integral connection of the pinic-n S) Athe conditions as to power and speed are reversed, as the gear 8 drives the pinion 9; and the machine is therefore in fast speed. The sh'aft 20 is operated longitudinally by the shiftingl meehanism 12. ly the mechanism and operation deseribed it is therefore evident that by pushing the handle of the shifter 12 to the right I put the fast gear in action, and by pus'hing the same handle to the left, as in Fig. 2, theslow gear is put in action. When the length of the sleevcs 15 and 16 within the'flanges are of a length to admit of the two extreme ends of the pins O eleari'ng the projecting points of the said sleeves,l the shaft 20 will be free to revolve without any effect on the gears, and by this means a weight can be lowered very rapidly and the life of the meehanism prolonged. By, however,extending the length of the projcction on any of the sleeves, as shown at 232 of-sleeve 15, it will be impossible to disengage lhe'pins O O from one ol' other of the gears 14 or 9 through their sleeves 16 and 15, respectively.

Special eonstructions or construetions for special purposes may require either one or the other of the abovedoseribed specific length of sleeves.

W'hile the drawings show myimprovement as applied to an elevator only, it must not be understood that I limit myself to its use in this connection. It Would find an equal ficld for use in the construction of cranes and all sorts of hoists where it is desirable to make provisions fora change of speed from a greater to a lower, or vice versa,and a like change of power.

I do not limit myself to the mere details of construction, as I could modify it in various ways without departingfrom the spirit of my invention. l

IIaving now deseribed my invention, what. I clai m as new, and desire to scen rc by Letters Patent, is- I 1. The eoxnbination,in a speed-changing mechanism,0f a longit-udinally-movahleshaft provided with two pi ns, two sleeves with projecting ends, a longitudnally-siotted sleeve, and means for moving said shaft longitudinally in either direetion, as and for the purpose specified.

2. The combination, in a speed-changing meehanism,ofalongitudinally-movableshaft, a sleeve inelosing one end of said shaft and forming ajournal therefor, a pinion seeured to said sleeve, a sleeveinclosing the opposite end of said shaft and forming a jon rnal therefor, a gear-Wheel seen red to this sleeve, means for engaging the said shaft to the one sleeve when movcd in one direetion, and means for engagng the said shaft to the other sleeve when moved in the opposite direction, said gear and pinion remaining stationary as to longitudinal movementindcpendently of the Iongitudinal movement of the shaft.

The combination, in a speed-changing mechanism,ofalong'itudinally-movableshaft, a sleeve inelosing one end of said shaft and forming a journal therefor, a pinion secured to the outer end of this sleeve, a sleeve inclosing the opposite end of said shaft and forming a journal thcrefor, a gear-wheel sceu red to the outer end 'of this sleeve, a ehainsupporting drum or sleeve inclosing the said sleeves, means for operatively connecting the said shaft with the said inclosing drum or sleeve, means` for engaging the said shaft with the said pinion-supportingsleeve when moved in one direction, and means for engaging .the said shaft with the gear-wheel-supporting sleeve when shifted in the opposite direetion, substantially as set forth.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in the presence of two witnesses.

XVILLIAM A'. WRIGIIT. Witnesses:

FRANK I). S'rocKLEv, 'EDWIN (l. NEvIN. 

